What's the difference in Aurifil threads
 

I was going to order some Aurifil thread for the first time and noticed that some is listed as 50 weight quilting thread and others are listed as 50 weight Maco thread. What is the difference and which one should I get for machine piecing?

I think all of the Aurifil cotton is Mako (Mako is a Premium Quality Extra Long Staple Egyptian cotton.). It may be that the seller just didn't put it in the description. The 50 weight is great for piecing & quilting. It doesn't generate much lint and is a great quality thread. I love it and use it most of the time.

Aurifil Thread, from Milan Italy, started out as cotton machine embroidery thread, but quilters quickly discovered that Aurifil Mako Cotton Thread was ideal for piecing and quilting.

Aurifil Longarm Polyester 50wt Variegated Thread is the new MUST HAVE variegated polyester thread. It is a 40wt high sheen premium trilobal polyester thread, ideal for embroidery, quilting, thread painting and decorative stitching

this was all I could find on differences- the maco was originally an embroidery thread- but quilters have found it to be a wonderful piecing/quilting thread- in cotton. the machine quilting thread tends to be polyester. *long arm quilters use a lot of polyester threads...cotton breaks too easy with the high speed machines* both are great threads. my machines all love aurafil threads- cotton and polyester- I use which ever I have the right color of- for piecing, quilting and hand stitching

Correct! Love love Aurifil!
sandy

Thanks for the quick responses. I've been searching for the answer and all I can find is information on Mako is a superior kind of Egyptian cotton and Aurifil uses it in their thread. I was shopping on Amazon and the Aurifil is listed as either quilting thread or Mako thread. Both are 50 weight, 1300mm spools but the Mako is $1.50 more. They are from the same seller fulfilled by Amazon. The Mako one mentions needle turn applique and some other uses for the thread whereas the quilting one doesn't. I was wondering for those that use Aurifil which do you use, the 50 weight quilting or Maco?

Sooooooo, go to Amazon to find it... I'm new to shopping online and was looking to find Aurifil.... I'm sure glad I read this post!! I LOVE Aurifil thread!!! (My sister provided a spool for a small project she requested, and I'm almost out of that thread.) It really is great thread!

Fabric.com has Aurifil on sale - ending today. Best price I've seen, and free shipping over $35. I just bought a boatload of the stuff.

Aurifil is a brand name of thread from Italy. There are other brand names of the cotton mako thread, Genziana and Tre Stelle Oro. All made in Italy, all the same thread. Here is a site in Iowa that sells it: http://www.carmenwarehouse.com/shop/home.php

Could you post links to the two threads on Amazon?

I believe all the 50wt cotton thread that Aurifil makes is 2-ply mako. Also, look at the photos. The 50wt 2-ply Aurifil I buy and love for both piecing and quilting on my domestic machine comes on the orange spool. I just checked the different spools of Aurifil I have and they all say on the bottom "Mako ne 50/2" meaning 50wt 2-ply.

Thanks everyone for responding. Prism99 here are the two links.

Here is the link to the quilting thread
http://www.amazon.com/Aurifil-Quilti...aurifil+thread

Here is the link to the Maco thread
http://www.amazon.com/Aurifil-Cotton...aurifil+thread

I know they are different colors but both are available in a variety of colors on this site. The color of the spool looks the same.

Thanks Maminstl for the Fabric.com suggestion. It appears they regular price is quite a bit cheaper than the vendor on Amazon. I see that all of their Aurifil thread is listed as quilting thread.

I think the only difference between these two offers is that one is 1300 meters (a "cone" of thread) whereas the other one is the smaller "spool" that Aurifil sells.

Well, I think they're the same thread. One of the sellers on Amazon is fabric.com, though, and the other is Peak Designs fulfilled by Amazon. So, they're not the same vendor.

I also think they're both the same size regular spool, not a cone. Both mention 1300 meters.

I've never been lucky enough to catch a fabric.com sale on Aurifil before they run out of the neutral colors I want. By the time I get to the sale, all the colors have an in-stock quantity of 0!

I have ordered in the past from this website: http://www.sewezdesigns.com/Aurifil1.html and been very pleased. It's a little more of a hassle because her website can be confusing to navigate, plus she has to price-adjust the shipping. You do have to be careful that you are ordering the 50wt; I got confused on one order and got some 40wt that is now sitting in my drawer. I haven't checked her prices lately, but they were among the best when I ordered some time ago.